This India batting will fare better in Australia: Watson

NEW DELHI: Former Australia allrounder Shane Watson feels that the faltering India batsmen will fare much better against Australia later this year compared to how they performed against England in the ongoing fivematch series.

Save skipper Virat Kohli (544 runs in 4 Tests) and partially Cheteshwar Pujara, most of the Indian batsmen could not perform up to their potential as England have already clinched the series with a 3-1 lead.

“It is not easy to play swing bowling. Trust me when Australia travel to England for Ashes next year, it won’t be easy for them also. England is the only place where the ball swings that much primarily due to conditions. You just can’t land in England once every three years and be successful,” said Watson during an interaction.

However, the former allrounder feels that India’s tour Down Under at the end of the year would be much better compared to England. “Look, if you check records, Indian batsmen of late have done well in Australia. Virat has scored loads of runs and I remember a fine century by (KL) Rahul at the SCG. Even Rahane scored a few runs,” Watson, who played 59 Tests, 190 ODIS and 58 T20IS for his country, said.

“In Australia, the Kookaburra will stop swinging after first 10 or may be 15 overs unlike Dukes which can swing all day. I don’t think bounce would be that much of a problem.”

For Watson, it is a global phenomenon that teams are not travelling well and India shouldn’t be blamed for their performance. “I don’t think any international team is playing swing bowling well these days and that is reflective in the performance on overseas performance,” said Watson.

Talking about India’s tour of Australia that starts with limited overs series in the last week of November, Watson said he is concerned about how Australia will score big first innings score in the absence of their banned skipper Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner.

“The biggest challenge for Australia will be to post big scores in the absence of Warner and Smith.”

Indian batsmen of late have done well in Australia. Virat has scored loads...i remember a fine century by Rahul at SCG.